The present invention relates to a socket wrench, and more particularly to a socket wrench specially adapted for engaging and turning track shoe spikes. The socket is designed to fit in a turning tool chuck, such as an electric drill chuck.
Track shoe spikes are manufactured in various lengths for different track surfaces and events. Prior to the start of a meet, it has been incumbent upon the track coach or track meet participants to remove all of the spikes from their track shoes and replace those spikes with suitable spikes for the surface involved. Moreover, during the track meet it frequently becomes necessary to change from one type of spike to another for different events in the track meet. For example, quarter-inch spikes are used for most jumping events, while half-inch to five-eighths-inch spikes are used for running events.
It, of course, has long been known to attach spikes to shoes through the use of threaded portions on a spike mating with threaded sockets disposed in show soles, for example as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,998,921 to J. C. Brown, 2,509,980 to R. M. McCallum, and 12,644 to C. Pfeiffer. Further, as shown in those patents, it is known to use various manually operated socket wrenches to rotate the spikes. It is, of course, also known to use a wrench head with various engaging surfaces, for example as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,465,048 to Wentling and 2,581,095 to Godmaire. None, however, offer the particular features and advantages of the present invention.
As more fully disclosed in the foregoing patents, track shoe spikes typically have a threaded portion which mates with a threaded socket embedded in the track shoe soles. To aid in rotating the spikes into and out of the socket, spikes typically have a flattened portion near the base of the spike. That flattened portion may be engaged with common pliers, wrenches, or slotted tools enabling rotation of the spike, and consequentially removal or insertion of the spike.
What typically happens, however, is that the wrenches or slotted tools supplied with the spikes are lost, or, through use, become so distorted that they are unusable. Such wrenches or slotted tools also tend to destroy the flattened gripping portions of the spikes and generally end up destroying or seriously damaging the spike itself. As a result, coaches and track meet participants have generally resorted to using locking pliers or Vice-Grips to engage and rotate the spikes. Beyond that using such tools is a time-consuming, laborious task, the locking pliers or Vice-Grips jaws mangle and crush the spikes rendering the spikes useless.
Therefore, in the past, it has been necessary to manually rotate the spikes into and out of their respective sockets using wholly inadequate tools which result in destroying the spikes. Consequently, many spikes must be discarded well before their useful life. Although the problems inhering in changing track shoe spikes has existed for many years, no one, prior to the present Applicant, has been able to come up with a solution to that pressing problem.
The present invention obviates the problems of the past by providing a unique socket designed to be rotated by a power driven turning tool, such as an electric drill, and enables quick and efficient changing of track shoe spikes. For the first time, coaches and meet participants may use a power driven tool for changing their spikes, which tool fits snuggly about the gripping surfaces of the spikes and does not injure the gripping surfaces or the spikes. The time-consuming, laborious process of the past has been eliminated by the present invention.